Are Your Clients On The Microsoft Accounts List?

All of those Fortune 500 companies,and the government's top secret agency,were among the first companies and clients named to Microsoft Consulting Services' first-ever named-accounts list.

True to its promise, the software giant released on Jan. 18 the initial list of names of the top accounts that will be managed and controlled by Microsoft Consulting Services, according to the list published by Microsoft's U.S. partner sales program. CRN obtained the list last week, and it can be viewed at crn.com.

The full list of Microsoft's top 1,000 customers, broken down by vertical segments and by region/districts, was expected to be updated by Jan. 25. "Microsoft is gracefully trying to draw the lines. They are trying to say, 'Do not waste your time and resources on these accounts because we are really watching them,' " said Rich Figer, vice president of sales at S.B. Stone, a systems integrator in Cleveland. "This should prove to be very helpful unless Microsoft can add and subtract names at their leisure."

One large systems integration partner was pleased as well. "By publishing these named accounts, Microsoft eliminates any possibility for confusion among service partners with regard to the potential for competition over the same business," said Gary Erickson, vice president of business development at Unisys Corporate Alliances, Blue Bell, Pa.

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Ironically, the list is drawing ire from some of Microsoft's big customers, which found they aren't as significant as they thought they were. Microsoft's named-accounts list "has created a huge backlash in its customer community from those accounts that did not make it on the list," said a solution provider who requested anonymity. "These accounts are now coming back at Microsoft angry because they feel they didn't make the 'cut' and therefore aren't as important to Microsoft as those who did."